


Resurrection

by macosa



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, James regains his sanity a little too late, Nobody Dies, Violence, what's the point of writing rwby fics if I don't make Ozpin cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23616097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macosa/pseuds/macosa
Summary: What if Oscar's aura was already broken, by the time he met Ironwood in the finale of RWBY vol 7?
Relationships: James Ironwood & Oscar Pine, Ozpin & Oscar Pine
Comments: 10
Kudos: 124





	Resurrection

**Author's Note:**

> Translation I did for a fic I originally wrote in Italian for a Hurt/Comfort challenge and also inspired by a previous comic I made some time ago with the exact same premise.
> 
> The prompt was "Resurrection"
> 
> Thank you so much, [Austadophilus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Austadophilus/pseuds/Austadophilus/), for being my beta reader! <3

“James is what my friends call me. To you, it’s General."

And it’s only a moment.

The loud bang rings viciously in his ears only to immediately leave place to an incessant hiss.

Oscar Pine doesn’t feel the pain right away.

He brings a hand to his chest, feels his glove getting wet.

Blood.

A moment later, he’s lying on the ground, near the ledge facing an infinite space.

Thousands of voices echo in his mind, thousands of faces flash before his eyes. Memories of this life and those before.

_ I don’t wanna die. _

__

__

_ Ruby! _

__

__

_ Jaune! _

__

__

_ Auntie! _

__

__

_ Ozpin… _

__

__

He hears someone shout his name, before he closes his eyes.

-

“OSCAR!”

James Ironwood drags the boy as best as he can, and as far from the ledge as possible.

Blood, unstoppable, drenches the floor and his good hand. The vivid red and the smell of iron awoke the man that desperately pretended he didn’t have a heart.

“What have I done? Gods, what have I done? Oscar!”

_ I killed a child! _

__

__

No, he’s still breathing, even if barely. James vainly tries to pressure on the wound on his chest. What can he do now? He doesn’t have bandages, anything that can stop the blood from flowing out. And none of that would be useful if a vital organ has been damaged.

He calms down momentarily only to bring his scroll out of his pocket. No news from Winter yet. If she had managed to inherit the powers of the Maiden, maybe…

With his good hand trembling nonstop while the wounded one itches painfully, he manages to send a message to all his men.

“I’m in need of immediate medical assistance. A child is dying!"

__

_ And it’s all my fault. _

__

-

Everything is white and bright around him.

Oscar sits up on a floor as shapeless as the rest of the world surrounding him. He’s still feeling fear and pain, but muffled, like a sound underwater. There’s no trace of blood on his hands or his chest.

That’s weird.

But he has no time to marvel further, as he notes a figure, kneeling beside him. Was it always there?

  
  


A man, gray hair and dark green clothes, his covering his face as he weeps, pathetically and desperately.

  
  


Oscar has never seen him before, in his life, yet he knows who he is.

“Ozpin?”

The old Headmaster – no, Wizard? – lifts his face from his hands and looks at Oscar with eyes full of sadness.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry."

Oscar doesn’t know whether he wants to comfort him or get angry.

_ I’m the one who’s dying, Oz! _

__

__

Actually, no, it’s the both of them.

He bit his lip.

“What happens to me now?”

Ozpin looks down, unable to stand the stare of the boy in front of him.

“Now we reincarnate once again. Your voice will become the voice the next host hears. I do not know how much time will pass, when we wake up again –”

His voice breaks in a sob again.

“Oscar! I’m so sorry. I never wanted for you to… I thought I could protect you, and instead I ran away like a...a coward!”

This time, Oscar frowns. He withdraws the hand he was going to put on Ozpin’s shoulder.

“It’s not your fault, Oz. James – I mean, General Ironwood. He shot me while I was defenseless."

He closes his fist.

Oscar thinks of Ironwood, of Salem’s forces invading Atlas. Of Mantle and its citizens. Of Jaune, who he couldn’t say goodbye to. Of Ruby, who he couldn’t confess his feelings…

Of all his new friends, who will continue the battle without him. He won’t be able to help them anymore!

“I don’t want to die, Ozpin…"

Ozpin nods.

“I know, my boy. I know. I never wanted for you to… So young…”

“No, Ozpin. I’m not going to die."

As he pronounces these words, the pain of agony crashes down on him, ironically, horribly, and he loses his strength again.

He violently clings to Ozpin’s jacket and looks intensely into his eyes, as if his companion was his only anchor to life.

“Help me, Oz. We can’t die now!”

-

Oscar is talking to someone.

James realizes as soon as he sees the boy’s lips moving.

Is he talking to Ozpin?

A feeble spark of hope rekindles. James frantically searches for something to help the miracle become reality.

_ The cane! Of course! _

__

__

He runs as fast as he can to where it had fallen, luckily not over the ledge, and he brings it back to Oscar. He takes the boy’s hand and brings it close to the cane. He looks as his fingers close around the handle.

The cane starts to glow.

-

“Please, Oz! We have to do something! I’m not saying that only for me, but for you as well!”

Ozpin stutters, in repeating those words.

“F-for me?”

Oscar grits his teeths and shuts his eyes as another wave of pain takes a hold of him. He bends forward, reaches his soulmate’s chest. He feels his arms enveloping him.

He relaxes a little. He can do this.

They can do it.

They are not alone.

“If we die now," he continues weakly. “Atlas will fall. Salem will win once again and we’ll lose more irreplaceable friends."

He doesn’t notice the tears that are streaming down his face right away.

“I don’t want to lose them," he sobs. The memories of his past lives that are flashing before his eyes tell him of this frightening inevitability: dying; losing people he loves. Over and over again, until the end of time.

But, just because he has accepted it, doesn’t mean he can’t fight it.

He clings to Ozpin with all the remaining strength he can muster, and Ozpin tightens his grip on him in return.

“Ozpin, we have to do something! We have to save Atlas! We have to save everyone!”

“You’re right."

Ozpin’s voice sounds calm and determined now.

Ozpin separates from him just enough to look at him in the eyes.

He’s smiling.

Oscar is so surprised at this sight that he, too, laughs.

“I am truly the biggest of idiots!" Ozpin exclaims, smile unfaltering. “I’ve got magic by my side!”

And Oscar looks as hundreds of other people appear in front of him, carrying him and smiling at him. All the people whose soul and magic he shares.

And he knows this miracle means consuming a significant portion of his remaining power, but he knows that this is a sacrifice his companions are happy to make.

So they don’t just stand by as the inevitable happens.

The pain stops; he slowly feels his strength coming back. Oscar rests his head on Ozpin’s chest.

“Thank you for saving me, Ozpin."

“Actually," he says, stroking his hair. “You saved us."

-

Before James’s surprised eyes, Oscar Pine gets up, with his aura back and rapidly closing his wounds.

James Ironwood can only weep; joy and anguish becoming one in his hysteria.

He brings his gun, the same he used to shoot the boy, to his temple.

But Oscar, or Ozpin – or maybe both of them? – rapidly snatches it from his hand.

The boy’s green eyes shine gold as he stares at the General with severity.

Without saying a word, he launches the gun in the abyss below.

Oscar turns his back on him.

“Don’t follow me, James."

He leaves.

James Ironwood remains on his knees, on the cold, bloodied floor.


End file.
